9 replies to this topic

[cheezthis]

Hey everyone

First time poster, long time reader/user.

I have a Dream/G1 with Cyanogen 6 stable.  While traveling yesterday, my phone's touch screen quit working around the bottom, which made my unlock pattern nearly impossible to do.  I was able to get it unlocked by pressing extremely hard on the screen after a few tires, and after that, I wanted to disable the unlock pattern.

The problem begins here.  I was driving and asked my lady to do it, and she disabled everything under the unlock area.  Now, the phone is locked, with the lock screen, but no option to unlock the phone available anywhere.  No slider, no menu button, no pattern...nothing.

I cannot reset the phone because the recovery is not loading but just hanging at the boot splash screen.  Bootloader loads.

Any tricks to unlock this phone or reset it?  Right now, it's useless except for incoming calls.  Thanks!

[octhrope]

I would say try booting into fastboot mode and see if you can clear data.  power plus camera button.  you could also use fastboot to reflash the rom but you need to install the android sdk on your computer first.  hope this helps in some way.

[junibert]

If you remember the pattern, you can try to enter it blind. If that fails, you can unlock the phone with your google password if you enter the pattern wrong 5 times in a short amount of time. Press "Forgot Pattern?" and enter your google credentials, then you get the option to reset the pattern.

If the screen is messed up, try using it in landscape mode, maybe that will help.

[cheezthis]

junibert, on 22 September 2010 - 04:36 PM, said:

If you remember the pattern, you can try to enter it blind. If that fails, you can unlock the phone with your google password if you enter the pattern wrong 5 times in a short amount of time. Press "Forgot Pattern?" and enter your google credentials, then you get the option to reset the pattern.

If the screen is messed up, try using it in landscape mode, maybe that will help.

Thanks for the help.  I already tried the landscape mode, and that allowed me to unlock it yesterday.  The problem lies with that unlock pattern being turned off.

There is no unlock pattern, slide, or anything.

Does anyone know if there is a backdoor keyboard way of unlocking these things?

octhrope, on 22 September 2010 - 04:36 PM, said:

I would say try booting into fastboot mode and see if you can clear data.  power plus camera button.  you could also use fastboot to reflash the rom but you need to install the android sdk on your computer first.  hope this helps in some way.

I haven't tried the android sdk route but am more than willing to look into it.  Any tips?  Thanks!

[junibert]

Does pressing menu twice not work any more? I remember that used to work a few months ago...

[Skrki]

junibert, on 23 September 2010 - 10:45 AM, said:

Does pressing menu twice not work any more? I remember that used to work a few months ago...

That's an option now, it can be enabled in CyanogenMod settings.

cheezthis,
You can power off the device, right? There is a "security hole" (let's call it that), that allows you to long press the power while the screen is locked. Reboot your phone, and when the screen goes blank, hold the Home button till you see the first splash (rebooting to recovery). Re-flash the ROM and see if that helps. If not, I'm afraid you're gonna have to wipe. I've had this problem, only a little more severe - I had no lockscreen at all. Whether it was a bad flash, or something else, I'm not sure to this day. I've played around in recovery, but wasn't able to solve it without eventually wiping.

If you get your phone to boot, you might wanna enable "Menu unlock", like I said, in CyanogenMod settings. However, reading your post, I would say your screen is failing permanently, and there's not much you can do about that.

[cheezthis]

Skrki, on 23 September 2010 - 02:47 PM, said:

That's an option now, it can be enabled in CyanogenMod settings.

cheezthis,
You can power off the device, right? There is a "security hole" (let's call it that), that allows you to long press the power while the screen is locked. Reboot your phone, and when the screen goes blank, hold the Home button till you see the first splash (rebooting to recovery). Re-flash the ROM and see if that helps. If not, I'm afraid you're gonna have to wipe. I've had this problem, only a little more severe - I had no lockscreen at all. Whether it was a bad flash, or something else, I'm not sure to this day. I've played around in recovery, but wasn't able to solve it without eventually wiping.

If you get your phone to boot, you might wanna enable "Menu unlock", like I said, in CyanogenMod settings. However, reading your post, I would say your screen is failing permanently, and there's not much you can do about that.

I cannot do the home button trick because recovery mode doesn't load.  I was having this problem before I went from 2.1 to 2.2 (cyan 5 to 6) too.  I had to update some part of the clockwork mod last time, but I cannot do that this time.

I downloaded the sdk last night and will try to flash it via that, which I'm not sure entirely sure how to do just yet but hope to figure it out.

And yes, my screen is definitely on its way out.  I called t-mo yesterday about pre-ordering a G2, but they wouldn't let me yet.  So, it's either that for find a used nexus one soon.  I'm really just trying to get another couple weeks out of this phone.  I pulled out my old t-mo dash yesterday

Thanks all, I will report back with any updates.  I appreciate all of the tips/help.  If anyone has a good place to learn about sdk flashing, please let me know.  I will be searching around as well.

[DackParis]

cheezthis, on 22 September 2010 - 04:13 PM, said:

The problem begins here.  I was driving and asked my lady to do it, and she disabled everything under the unlock area.  Now, the phone is locked, with the lock screen, but no option to unlock the phone available anywhere.  No slider, no menu button, no pattern...nothing.

Just use the can opener in a can!!

[cheezthis]

Finally was able to flash a new recovery.img, wipe, and reinstall.  I immediately enabled the menu unlock.

My touchscreen is dead 95% of the time.  I was able to get through the setup, but that's it.  It's all trackball right now, which really limits some stuff.

Time for a new phone...

Why can't t-mo get that damn G2 out.  Might just get a nexus, if I can find one local.

[Robin Decker]

cheezthis, on 22 September 2010 - 04:13 PM, said:

Hey everyone

First time poster, long time reader/user.

I have a Dream/G1 with Cyanogen 6 stable.  While traveling yesterday, my phone's touch screen quit working around the bottom, which made my unlock pattern nearly impossible to do.  I was able to get it unlocked by pressing extremely hard on the screen after a few tires, and after that, I wanted to disable the unlock pattern.

The problem begins here.  I was driving and asked my lady to do it, and she disabled everything under the unlock area.  Now, the phone is locked, with the lock screen, but no option to unlock the phone available anywhere.  No slider, no menu button, no pattern...nothing.

I cannot reset the phone because the recovery is not loading but just hanging at the boot splash screen.  Bootloader loads.

Any tricks to unlock this phone or reset it?  Right now, it's useless except for incoming calls.  Thanks!

Same problem here though I still have an unlock gesture but it's impossible because I set it to strict.